Can I Use Platform Scales for Farming?

Platform Scales are versatile and robust weighing devices that can be used for a variety of different farming applications. Both smallholdings and larger scale agricultural businesses can benefit from incorporating these farming scales into their everyday practises. This blog aims to highlight exactly what they can be used for and how a simple platform scale should be a mainstay on every UK farm.

Produce for selling

Thanks to a large weighing pan, platform scales are well suited for weighing large bags and boxes of produce. Whoever you’re selling to, accurate weighing of your produce is crucial. You don’t want to be giving away more than agreed, but equally your customer will not want to receive less. Please ensure your weighing scales are correctly calibrated to give accurate results – find more information on scale calibration here.

Scales such as the PT Industrial Floor Standing Platform Scale are compatible with Adam Indicators for checkweighing applications. This can enable users to easily and quickly determine whether bags and boxes of produce are all uniform in weight before selling.

Please note that it you’re selling items with a price that is based on weight, your will require trade approved scales. View our range of trade approved platform scales here.

Animals and livestock

Platform scales can be used to weigh all kinds of animals on a farm. Knowing the weight of your livestock can give you information on whether they have any medical conditions, growing at the correct rate, receiving the right amount of food and more.

Far larger animals such as pigs, sheep, goats or cows, the PT Platform Scale is a great option. The diamond-plate stainless steel surface provides fantastic grip and can be easily cleaned down after use.

For weighing smaller animals such as rabbits, chickens, ducks or dogs, the CPWplus Weighing Scale would be well suited. This instrument features hold weighing technology that can record the weight of you animal even when it’s moving. It also has a non-slip rubber mat for increased grip for your animals.

Animal feed

Keeping track of how much feed to give your livestock is crucial to their healthy growth and wellbeing, and one of the best ways to do this is by weighing feed. Animals will require different diets depending on variables such as what they are reared for, whether they are pregnant or if they have any medical conditions. By understanding the weight of your animal feed, you can either increase or decrease the amount easily depending on the condition of your herd.

Livestock such as dairy cows will produce more milk if they receive the required amount of nutrients from their feed, therefor having a good knowledge of the exact weight of your feed is likely to provide better results.

The CPWplus L is suited for weighing feed for smaller herds as it features a stainless-steel platform that can be easily cleaned and has a maximum capacity of 300kg. For larger herds, a PT Platform Scale would be more suitable as it has a maximum capacity of 3 tonnes.

Building materials

An agricultural environment is always changing and there will always be some kind of construction work taking place. Whether it’s fencing, building out buildings or landscaping, a platform scale can be extremely beneficial for weighing building materials. The PT Platform Scale from Adam Equipment is designed with weighing pallets and crates in mind, with an extremely rugged stainless-steel design that can withstand tough agricultural environments. When used with an AE 403 Indicator with counting functions, users can easily count large amounts of bricks, slabs, tiles, fencing posts and other building materials.

Checking yields

During harvest, it’s crucial for farmers to know their yield so that they know exactly how much they can sell that year. Not only this, but a platform scale can be used to estimate crop yields which is crucial for successful farming. Yield estimations allow farmers to budget for that year and make the correct preparations for storage and transport.

To estimate your desired crop yield, pick a section of your field that accurately represents the total area of your crop field/fields. Measure out a section of your plot using a tape measure or some other form of measuring device (a 5 m2 plot for example), and harvest crop. This produce can then be weighed on your platform scale which will determine the yield per 5 m of land. Then, simply break your total crop size into 5 m sections and multiply this number by your yield amount.

We hope this blog has given you an insight into platform scales and their many uses on the farm. For any more information on Inscale’s range of platform scales, please contact us on 01908972660 or Get In Touch.